By: Frank Hu

If you’re on Mars, it might be really hard to chat without a radio system. Maybe that’s because you forgot to heat your teeth, so your teeth might be chatering. Even if you heat your teeth, you still can’t chat very well, the sound quality is not very good, it takes longer to hear, and the sound is low.

Even with the differences, it sounds pretty much the same, just a quieter, duller version. Also, it may take longer to hear it. However, the biggest difference may be the high-pitched sound. Common high-pitched sounds, such as whistles, are almost inaudible.

To know why there are these differences, we should know how humans hear sound. When humans hear it, they actually experience vibrations in the eardrums. This vibration comes from pressure waves generated by the sound source. It can be transmitted through air, solids, or liquids. On Earth and Mars, sound waves often travel through the air. Cold temperatures reduce the speed of sound, and Mars is much colder than Earth. Thus, on Earth, the speed of sound is 760 miles per hour, and on Mars it is well beyond 540 miles per hour. So, on Mars, it takes longer to hear other people’s voices.

On Mars, the sound you hear automatically decreases. Mars’ atmosphere is 100 times less dense than Earth’s, that is, much less dense. This affects the way sound waves propagate from the sound source to the detector, causing the signal to weaken. On Mars, you have to get closer to the source to hear sounds at the same volume as on Earth.

The Martian atmosphere, made up of 96 percent carbon dioxide, it absorbs a lot of high-pitched sounds, so only low-pitched sounds can travel long distances. This effect is called attenuation — the attenuation of the signal at certain frequencies — and the farther away from the source, the more pronounced it becomes.

Of course, if you find yourself on Mars, you’ll put on a spacesuit. Not only does it contribute to clear radio communication, but you can also breathe!

Sources: Sounds of Mars – NASA Mars

Noises sound totally different on Mars than on Earth. Here’s why _ Science News for Students.pdf